by Marilyn Turk
“That’s nonsense,” Lexie asserted. “I’ve never been interested in any of them.”
The sisters exchanged glances. “Never?”
Lexie’s face flamed when she remembered the crush she’d once had on a wealthy boy when she was in college, a boy who’d turned out to be an insensitive playboy. Thank God, she’d realized his true character before she’d made a terrible mistake and really fallen for him.
“No, not seriously. Russell’s the only man I’ve ever been in love with—the only man I ever will be.”
“We love Russell. He’s a fine, upstanding young man, not to mention handsome, and there are many women that would like to be in your shoes,” said Marian.
Scenes of women flirting with Russell played in her mind. He was always polite to them, but he assured Lexie he only had eyes for her.
“I know, and I’m thankful he is loyal to me.” She tucked a windblown curl back into the scarf she’d tied around her hair. “I’m afraid I haven’t been as aware of his anxiety as you are. I’ve been so wrapped up in my studies and patients at the hospital. Maybe I haven’t been a good listener.”
Peg leaned forward and patted Lexie on the knee. “Don’t worry, Lexie, you’ll have plenty of time to listen when he comes back.”
Would she? When would that be?
“Sometimes I wonder if we should have gotten married as soon as we came back from Jekyll Island. But I started school right away and didn’t think it would be fair to try to start a marriage while I was studying and spending so much time away from home.”
“Honey, it’s not your fault. I’m not sure Russell was ready yet anyway. I think he wanted to make sure he’d make a suitable husband for you first,” said Marian.
Lexie shook her head. Why would he ever doubt it? And how could she ever assure him he was perfect for her already?
Homer walked up to the group of women. “Excuse me.”
“Yes, Homer?”
“I wanted to tell you I’ve gone through the attic in the main house and the carriage house and found all the rubber you have.”
Marian smiled at the man. “Thank you, Homer. Where did you put it?”
“It’s piled up there by the garage. Where do you want me to take it?”
Peg pushed herself up from the lawn chair she was in. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Lexie and Marian stood, too, and followed Homer over to the garage. A collection of rubber boots, bike tires, rubber gloves, and garden hose were stacked high. “You know, I also have a rubber raincoat. Don’t you, Marian?”
“Sure do. I’ll go get them.” Marian strode over to the house and disappeared inside. She reappeared moments later holding two raincoats, as well as a shower curtain draped over her arm.
“We can do without these.” She carried them over to the pile and dropped them on top.
Peg pointed to the pile. “Well, there. That’s a good assortment. Yes, Homer, go ahead and take it over to Sherman’s Sinclair Gas Station. That’s the nearest collection point to us.”
“I’ll help you load it into the trunk,” said Lexie, and she picked up some items from the stack.
“Thank you, Lexie. We can help too,” Peg said.
With all of them helping, it only took a few minutes to load the items into the car. Lexie chuckled when she found a girdle in the heap and held it up for the others to see.
“What’s so … oh, yes, I see. Well, we all have to make sacrifices for the war!” Marian snatched it out of Lexie’s hand and tossed it into the trunk.
Lexie burst out laughing. “You are so patriotic, Marian!”
“And think of all the money we’ll make! At a penny a pound, we might make a whopping $20.00!” Peg swept her arm over the collection of rubber items. “Good thing we’re not doing it for the money.”
After the car was loaded, Homer left to deliver the donations.
Marian motioned to three bikes parked in the back of the garage. “Lexie, there’s a bicycle scavenger hunt today. Everyone’s meeting at the village green at three o’clock. You still have time if you’d like to participate. It should be fun.”
“Are you two going to do it?” Something like that would be so much fun with Russell, but without him, she didn’t have much interest.
The sisters glanced at each other, then Peg answered. “After today’s gardening, I’m not sure this old body is up to it.”
“Mine either,” said her sister.
“You know, it sounds like fun, but I think I’ll skip it and just relax here with you two.”
Peg shook her head. “Please don’t feel you have to keep us company.”
“No, it’s not that. I just wasn’t planning anything like that this weekend.”
Marian crossed her arms. “You’d feel differently if Russell were here, wouldn’t you?”
Lexie’s heart squeezed at the truth. She nodded. “Maybe so.”
“That’s perfectly understandable,” said Peg. “But you know Russell wouldn’t want you pining over him while he’s gone.”
“It never occurred to me to pine for him. In fact, I never thought I’d miss him so much. I guess I just thought he’d always be here.”
Peg smiled. “Sometimes we just don’t appreciate people until they’re not around anymore.”
The women walked back to the house and resumed their seats on the porch.
“You know, the Maidstone Club’s season-opening is tonight. They’re having a dinner-dance as a fund-raiser for the war effort. Russell had spoken to the manager about playing there this evening.” Marian picked up today’s copy of the East Hampton Star.
“I remember him telling me about that. I hope they found another piano player. Are you going?”
Peg shook her head. “We thought about it but decided against it. We don’t like being out on the roads at night. It’s so dark, you can barely see the other cars, and you can’t tell where you are, with all the houses having their blackout shades down.”
“That’s right, and even though everyone’s supposed to keep their speed under thirty-five miles per hour, some of the young folks out here don’t keep the rules. The police have been busy handing out violations to the speeders, but it’s still dangerous.” Marian waved at a neighbor driving by in a white convertible. “We decided to just have a nice dinner here instead.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Lexie. “I don’t feel like partying tonight.”
“That’s perfectly understandable. We can stay in, play cards, and listen to the radio. You can turn in early and get a good night’s sleep,” said Peg. “I bet you’re not getting one with your busy schedule.”
“Not really.”
“So we’ll have dinner here, then get to bed early and be rested for church tomorrow,” said Marian.
“Perfect.” Lexie picked up the book she’d brought with her. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll walk down to the beach and read a little.”
Peg looked out toward the sparkling water of the ocean. “Sure. Go ahead. The beach is a great place to relax and clear your mind.”
Clear her mind? Lexie doubted that was possible. On the other hand, the beach was also a great place to pray.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Russell pulled the strap across him and buckled into his place along the interior of the RAF cargo plane for the three-hour flight to Northern Ireland. Artie’s band would be entertaining the growing number of American troops sent there since January.
The band members were lined up against the walls facing each other with their equipment secured between them in the center of the plane.
“Hey, Russell. Where’s your piano?” Louie yelled over the drum of the airplane’s engine.
Russell shrugged and smiled. “Oops. Guess I forgot to bring it.”
“Lucky for you, there are pianos wherever we go. The rest of us have to haul our instruments.”
“Yeah, you’re right. They’d be pretty hard to carry.”
The guys laughed, then settled back on thei
r canvas seats, restricting their conversations to their neighbors as the plane lifted off the ground. Through the open cockpit door, Russell could see Gloria strapped into the center seat behind the captain and co-captain. He breathed a sigh of relief that she was not sitting beside him. Since his last conversation with her, she’d withdrawn her attention and kept a cool distance from him. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings or insult her, but he had to let her know where he stood.
The loadmaster was seated in the cockpit in a small area behind the crew and Gloria so he could keep an eye on the load inside the plane. After they’d been in the air about thirty minutes, he came to the entrance of the door and shouted out at them.
“You can move around and stretch your legs now if you want to. Those seats aren’t the most comfortable.”
Indeed they weren’t. They hadn’t been designed for passenger comfort. Rather, they’d been placed inside the plane for paratroopers to sit on until they made their jumps. Russell was thankful the trip wasn’t any longer. After talking with the guys on either side of him a while, he unbuckled and stretched, then walked over to peer out one of the plane’s small windows.
The June day was unusually clear for England so he could see the ground below them. Rolling green pastures stretched beneath them dotted with occasional farmhouses. He spotted what must be sheep in some of the fields and marveled at the peaceful scene. Who’d think the country was at war?
“Hey, what’s that up ahead? A city?” One of the guys pointed at the scene outside the window where he stood.
The loadmaster had joined them in the hold and was checking the straps and buckles holding down the equipment. “That’d be Birmingham, sir.”
Russell’s gaze followed the direction the plane headed. The closer they got to the city, the more blackened areas were visible in the landscape. Large areas of gray rubble pocked the city between what appeared to be factories and homes.
“Man, would you look at that!”
“Gee, they got hit hard!”
The band gathered in groups of two or three to peer out the window, eyes wide with disbelief at the scene below. The men shook their heads and gaped as they looked.
“Them German planes dropped their bombs on Birmingham and hit them pretty hard,” said the loadmaster. “Not as hard as London, but enough to do a lot of damage and kill many of our citizens.”
Russell shuddered to think about the innocent people who were victims of the bombing—families, children, people just doing their jobs. More evidence of the German blitz was displayed when they flew over Manchester as well.
The loadmaster came to stand beside him at the window. “The Nazis thought they’d done us in, but they didn’t know we Englishers wouldn’t go down easy. Once Hitler knew he wasn’t going to beat us, he turned around and started hitting the Soviet Union instead. Most of our factories are up and running again. Instead of beating us, he just made us mad and more determined to fight back.”
“Thank God,” said Russell.
The loadmaster nodded. “Yes, we do. And we’re thankful you Yanks are here now too.”
“So am I,” said Russell. “We need to stop that madman.” It was nice to feel welcome to the country, even though his presence wouldn’t help fend off an enemy attack. But if being a Yank was a good thing, he’d take it. He smiled, recalling his southern grandfather’s disapproval toward all things considered “Yankee.” But times had changed, and thankfully, now the whole country was united against the same enemies.
As water came into view, the loadmaster pointed out the Irish Sea that separated England from Ireland. “Out that side there, you can see the Isle of Man.” The plane began descending toward its destination, and Russell was able to spot a lighthouse in the water just off the shore of the island.
“What lighthouse is that?” he asked the loadmaster.
“Chicken Rock,” the man replied.
“That’s a funny name for a lighthouse,” said Sal.
The loadmaster shrugged. “Some of the lighthouses are shut off now to keep the Germans from using them as landmarks. Heard some lighthouses up north even got shot at, and some people in them were killed.”
The plane nosed downward, and the loadmaster told everyone to get back into their seats and buckle in for the landing. Soon they were on the ground in Northern Ireland where they’d be for at least two weeks, according to Artie. He told the band most of the American soldiers who were sent to Europe since the first of the year had been sent to bases in Northern Ireland.
As they got off the plane, they and their instruments were reloaded onto waiting army trucks which took them to the barracks where they’d be staying.
“Welcome to Langford Lodge.” The soldier in charge of their escort addressed them upon their arrival.
“Sounds like a cabin in the mountains,” muttered Nick. “How cozy.”
“Doesn’t look like a cabin,” said Sal. “In fact, it looks a lot like the last place we stayed, just bigger.”
“I’ll give you men time to get settled, then I’ll come back to take you to the dining hall for lunch.”
After he left, Artie, who’d been outside talking with an officer, came inside and scanned the room.
“Hey, Artie, where exactly are we?” Harry asked.
“We’re about twenty-five miles west of Belfast, I understand.”
“Wonder if there’s any pubs around here,” said Louie.
“Not in walking distance. Sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am.”
The band stowed their belongings, then were driven to lunch, passing hundreds of soldiers on the way.
“Gee, feels like we’re back in the States with all these American uniforms,” Nick noted, craning his neck to see from his seat in the back of the truck.
“Man, look at all the tanks!” said Sal, as they drove past rows of the armored vehicles.
While they were at lunch, the base’s chief information officer briefed them.
“Hello. I’m Captain Steven Parker, and I’d like to welcome you to Army Air Force Station 597. We are glad to have you here. As you have seen, there are many American soldiers here—at last count around 5,000.”
“Wow,” muttered Nick, voicing what the rest were probably thinking.
“You may have heard that Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower has taken over control of the European Theater of Operations. We have been building up our forces here over the last five months for a major campaign that will begin soon. As a result, most of the troops we have here will be leaving to participate in that campaign. For many of these soldiers, this is their first time away from home, for most, the first time away from American soil. They are eager to serve their country but are homesick.
“That’s why we wanted to bring you here. It will be a long time before they have any other contact with familiar surroundings, and we’d like to send them off with some entertainment that will take their minds off their worries, at least for a little while, and give them something good to remember when they leave here.” He paused, then added, “So you see how important your being here is. Thank you again for coming, and please let us know what we can do to accommodate you.”
Artie spoke up. “Where will we be playing? I didn’t see a place large enough to hold that many soldiers.”
“You won’t be performing for all of them at once. We’ve divided them up by divisions, and you’ll be playing in one of the airplane hangars where’s there’s plenty of room.”
“Where is this campaign going to happen?” asked Nick.
The officer steadied him with a blank look. “I’m not at liberty to divulge that information yet.”
The band members glanced at each other, questions evident in their eyes.
Artie nodded. “We understand. Is the hangar near here? We’d like to practice this afternoon before the show tonight.”
“Yes, of course. Come with me, and I’ll show you.” Artie and Russell followed Captain Parker outside where he pointed across the way to
tall roofs rising above the barracks. “The hangars are over there. You may walk if you wish, but we can drive you whenever you’re ready.”
“Fine. Give us an hour to finish up here, and then we’ll be ready. Our instruments are there already?”
“Yes, sir. They should all be there.”
“And you’ve rounded up a piano for us?”
“Yes, we borrowed it from the base chapel.”
Russell was encouraged to know there was a chapel on the base, but sorry it would be minus its piano for the time being. He and Artie went back inside and returned to their tables to finish their lunch.
At that moment, Gloria strolled in. “What’s a girl got to do to get invited to dinner?”
All the men shoved their chairs back quickly from the long table and stood to their feet.
“At ease, men!” She giggled. “I’ve always wanted to say that.” She glided across the room to Captain Parker, extending her hand to the young man, whose jaw had dropped open. “I’m Gloria Bentley. Are you our escort?”
Russell sympathized with the flustered young man who grappled with words to speak, knowing he’d love to be her personal escort.
The man cleared his throat. “Yes, ma’am.” He jerked a chair back from the table and motioned for her to sit down. “I’ll tell the cook to get you a meal.”
“Thank you, dear.” The words oozed out of her mouth.
“Can you take us back to our barracks now?” Artie said, breaking the trance Gloria had cast over the officer.
“Yes, sir.”
“But who’s going to stay and keep me company?” Gloria pouted.
The man appeared confused by the question and unable to make a decision. Three men in uniform walked into the room and made their way to the group. “Captain Parker, we’re here to transport the USO band back to their barracks.”
The officer’s face relaxed. “Good. They’re ready.”
The band members followed the soldiers out the door, leaving Captain Parker alone with Gloria. Hopefully, he’d be able to fend off her advances. Russell noticed he was wearing a wedding ring.
What was that delicious smell? Lexie opened her eyes and remembered she was at the Maurice cottage. The clock on the bedside table showed 8:00. She sat up quickly. Was she late? Oh, it’s Sunday. When was the last time she’d slept so late? A sense of panic made her heart beat faster. She hoped she hadn’t made the sisters wait on her.
